On Friday an important decision will be taken by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal(NCLAT), which focuses on the eligibility criteria of Arcelor Mittal and Numetal.
Arcelor Mittal and Numetal are the two key competitors for bankrupt Essar Steel. These two firms got disqualified in the first round of bids. Both the firms challenged appellate tribunal and demanded an explanation for their disqualification. Arcelor Mittal’s first bid was not taken into consideration because it was a promoter of Uttam Galva and KSS Petron. These two names were there when a report was being prepared on loan defaults. The reason for disqualification of Numetal’s bid was noted by the officials. One of the associates of the firm, RewantRuia has connections with Essar Steel promoters.
Both the firms joined the second round of bids. In the second round, Vedanta Resources took part in the race. JSW Steel joined Numetal at that time. According to the inputs by FE, the two firms talked about the reason for their disqualification infornt of the Ahmedabad bench of the NCLT. According to the firms, calling the bidders for the second round of bids without giving them chance to rectify their first bids was “prima facie invalid”.
